Under all members attribute and endeavor,
the tenth Taiwan Bonsai Creator Association (TBCA) exhibition has successfully
ended in the assembly hall of Tianwei elementary school in Tianwei town of
Zhanghua County, Taiwan.One hundred and
six excellent bonsai masterpieces have been exhibited.This is a record high number in TBCA
history.In addition, there are eight
new artists accepted as new members this year and their bonsai creations were
in the exhibition as well.There are
officially one hundred and thirty six professional bonsai artists in TBCA
membership.The great success of this
year’s exhibition and the higher standard and quality of the exhibition bonsai
are shown by the smile faces and numerous compliment and encouragement from our
honored guests and artists.

I would like to thank all the members of
TCBA, without their hard work and endless contribution, the success of this
great event will not happen.For ten
years, TCBA exhibition has been the center stage for professional bonsai artists
and the guidance for new comer.Members
of TCBA are the main force of Taiwan bonsai creation and our dedication to
Taiwan bonsai history will be remembered and appreciated.
This year’s great success will be
remembered.However, we should continue
to improve the quality of our bonsai creation and carry forward the TCBA’s
great tradition to the next level.TCBA
is the inspiration of all the bonsai artists.Creation is the essence of every art.How to create a bonsai that admired by everyone, how to let every bonsai
artist receive the deserved honor and substantive income, how to share our
successful experiences, how to let TCBA exhibition not only be the bonsai jewel
of Taiwan, but also, the bonsai treasure of the world, the answers rely on the
shoulder of every TCBA member.With our
united efforts and strength, the great success of future TCBA and Taiwan bonsai
community is foreseeable.

Due to the lack of
formal competition stage for professional bonsai artists in Taiwan, a group of
enthusiastic professional bonsai artists in Taiwan decided to establish TBCA
(Taiwan Bonsai Creation Association).After going through innumerable discussions, researches and plans, this
goal was finally achieved in the spring of 1998.This endeavor has facilitated the Taiwan
bonsai standard and led the trend of bonsai in Taiwan.Furthermore, TBCA has enhanced the
development of Taiwan bonsai.Undisputedly, TBCA has become one of the most influential bonsai
organizations in Taiwan.

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The successful factors of TBCA:

The annual bonsai exhibition of TBCA has
become the most important stage for all the professional bonsai artists in
Taiwan to compete their talents.The
rules and regulations of TCBA are at variance with other major bonsai
organizations in Taiwan.Due to these
strict and steadfast regulations, TCBA has the strength to hold the highest
standard and earns its reputation in Taiwan bonsai circle.

Display regulation:

Work:
(1) 1. The bonsai presented for the annual exhibition must create from raw
material or pre-bonsai by the artist him or herself and at least owning the
tree for more than three years.2. If
the submitted bonsai is re-designed from a finished bonsai that exhibited
before, the newly restyled bonsai must have a very different style from its
original work.Also, the artist has to
submit pictures of the original bonsai before the new redesign for judges to
approve.

(2)
Selecting standards and the reward:

1.There are four different awards
in TCBA annual exhibition.

Entrance award:Trees that selected as top 50% of the total
exhibition trees are awarded with Entrance award.

Excellence award:Trees that selected as top 50% from the
entrance awards are awarded with Excellence award.

Supreme award:Trees that selected as top 10% of the total
exhibition trees are awarded with Supreme awards.

Debut award:Trees that awarded with Supreme award and
never exhibited at any major exhibitions or shows will receive the Debut award
as well.For trees that received this
award, committee will award the artist with one full page of space in the
annual exhibition book.By doing so, the
awarded artists will have the opportunity to explain the creating process about
his or her bonsai and most importantly to share his or her precious knowledge
with others.

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Finance:
In order to maintain financial independence and fairness, TCBA is not accepting
donation from any individual or organization.Although it is not really ample, but, there is about $10,000 US dollars
remained in our treasure by the end of each year.

Resource of Funding

Exhibition fee:When artists submit their trees for annual
exhibition, they have to pay roughly US$ 100.00 ($3,000.00 NT dollars)
exhibition fee for each tree they submitted.

Annual exhibition book fee:Any tree that selected by the committees to
put in the annual exhibition book, the owner of the tree has to pay roughly US$
100.00 ($3,000.00 NT dollars) for printing cost per tree.

Income from annual book sale:The annual exhibition book is sold at $500.00
NT dollar ($16.00US dollars) per book.The profit from the book sale will go to TCBA.

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Organization:
(1) membership:To become a member of
TCBA, the artist has to submit his or her tree for the annual TCBA exhibition
and this tree must be qualified to exhibit.Then, the artist can become a member of TCBA.

(2)Committee member:To qualify as committer member, the artist
has to have his or her trees that received the following three award
numbers.A. One Supreme award and three
Entrance awards.B. Two Supreme awards
and one entrance award. C. Three Supreme awards.

(3) President: Elected by committer
members.

Appraisal:
(1) Judge qualification

To become a judge for TCBA, the artist
needs to have either of the following credential.

The artist must create trees that won major awards from Hua
Fong Annual exhibition or TCBA annual exhibition in the recent ten
years.Also, the artist must have
plenty of judging experiences and good reputation from other major
exhibitions.

The artist must be committer member of TCBA and has plenty of
judging experiences from other major exhibitions.

(2) The number of Judges:

There will be nine to eleven judges to give
scores at each annual TCBA exhibition.

(3)Appraisal principle:

The principal of the appraisal is based on
fairness and openness.Each judge must
appraise each tree and give score independently.Discussion with other judges about appraising
any tree is not allowed.The committee
of TCBA takes this matter very seriously.Any judge breaks the rule of independent appraisal will never be invited
back as a judge again.These appraising
rules will be published in the tenth annual exhibition book this year.

(4) Appraisal method:

1. First round: Choosing the top 50% from
all the exhibition trees.These trees
will award with Entrance award.

2. Second round:Choosing the top 50% from the selected trees
of first round.These trees will award
with Excellence award.

3. Final round: Choosing the top 10% from
all the exhibition trees.These trees
will award with Supreme award.

This appraisal method is the result of
decades experiences from many bonsai authorities in Taiwan.It is fast, simple, accurate, and easy to
understand.For a show with more than
one hundreds trees, it only takes around two and half hours to tally the scores
and announce the results.